Murder of Surinderpal Hehar of Surrey remains unsolved after two years

NEXT week, on Tuesday, November 21, it will be two years since Surinderpal Hehar, a prominent member of the South Asian community, was murdered in Surrey.

Hehar, 45, a longshoreman who was a well-known field hockey promoter, was shot dead on November 21, 2015, at 152nd Street and 66th Avenue just after midnight as he was headed for work with a colleague, who also sustained gunshot wounds but survived.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is investigating.

Police sources told The VOICE earlier this year that they were looking into Hehar’s background and various activities in order to try and figure out what could have led to the murder.

Amarjit SandhuPhoto submitted

Another case that also remains unsolved and is still baffling the community is that of developer Amarjit Singh Sandhu, who was gunned down in broad daylight in the parking lot of a busy strip mall in Richmond a year and a half ago.

Sandhu was shot in the Tim Horton’s parking lot in the 11300-block of Steveston Highway on June 4, 2016.

Sandhu was a former member of the International Sikh Youth Federation and a developer who was very actively involved in Vancouver’s Ross Street Gurdwara (Khalsa Diwan Society) politics.

The killer was a non-white male in his early to mid-20s who escaped. Richmond News reported at the time that a witness told them that Sandhu was killed while standing next to his black pick-up truck by a man with “an average build, light brown skin and some facial hair, wearing a hoodie and sunglasses.” The witness said that the suspect used a gun with a silencer and that he heard “at least six shots that sounded like a paintball gun.”

Amarjit Sandhu’s vehicle was riddled with bullets.Photo courtesy CBC

The witness told the Richmond News that Sandhu was with a friend just before the shooting. He added that the friend was spotted talking to police shortly afterwards.

IHIT described the killer as a male in his early to mid-20s, approximately 6 feet tall, slim / slender build, wearing a grey or light grey coloured hoodie or coat, medium to dark coloured pants and possibly wearing a baseball cap. He was non-white.

A couple of weeks after the murder, IHIT released photos of what was believed to be the getaway vehicle and asked for the public’s assistance in identifying it. The vehicle was described as gold / silver in colour and appeared to be a Chevrolet Trail Blazer.